Styles sorry for mistake

Referee apologises for penalty decision

By Lewis Rutledge   Last updated: 20th August 2007

Styles Rob

Styles: Admits mistake

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Rob Styles has admitted he was wrong to award a penalty to Chelsea at Anfield on Sunday, and has apologised to Liverpool for his mistake.

Frank Lampard was able to secure a 1-1 draw for Chelsea after Styles penalised Steve Finnan for bringing down Florent Malouda.

Replays showed there was no foul and, having reviewed the incident, the PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) have decided that Styles will not officiate this weekend.

"All referees enter into matches hoping not to make any mistakes but understanding that they may happen, what none of us want is for any mistake to potentially affect the result of the match.

"Yesterday, in mistakenly awarding a penalty, I accept that I may have affected the result of the match and for that I apologise."

Goal-line technology

Referees' chief Keith Hackett has also confirmed that assistant referee Ian Gosling will take no part in the next round of Premier League following his mistake in the game between Fulham and Middlesbrough.

David Healy was not awarded a goal even though his shot crossed the line before being clawed out by Mark Schwarzer, reopening the debate about the use of technology,

"Clearly the assistant referee has made an error, so he won't be operating next week for us either," said Hackett.

"Everyone in football recognises that goal-line systems can provide help for the referee to make his decision.

"It is still in its testing stage but we hope when it is judged to be fail-safe then it will be used."